Hartselle's Katelyn Hill shoots over Cullman's Jennifer Jenkins at the buzzer of the first half. Hill's shot went in to cut Cullman's lead to 23-17.. | Brent Maze

Hartselle was outscored 21-5 in the fourth quarter, as No. 4 Cullman pulled away to win 57-32 Thursday night in the first round of the Class 5A, Area 13 tournament Thursday night.

Gary Orr, head coach of the Lady Tigers, said his team struggled against a much taller Cullman team, which blocked eight shots and held Hartselle to 24 percent shooting from the field.

“I wouldn’t say that we played our worst game, but we certainly played our worst fourth quarter at the wrong time,” Orr said. “Their size bothered us, and we gave up too many fast breaks on just defensive mistakes.”

Hartselle forced Cullman into 20 turnovers, but the Lady Bearcats outscored Hartselle 25-14 in points off turnovers and shot a blistering 64.5 percent from the field.

Cullman took control of the game in the first quarter with a 17-9 lead. Hartselle cut the lead to 23-17 at the break.

But in the end, Hartselle had no answer for Cullman’s Morgan Smith and Morgan Pitts, who scored 20 points and 12 points respectively. Pitts also had four blocks.

Quanesha Burks led Hartselle with 10 points and five steals. Katelyn Hill added 7 points. Allie Roden, Sarah Horner and Belaine Allen scored 3 points each while Shaneal Johnson, Kanesia Elliot and Alice Ann Glasgow added 2 points. Johnson also added

The Lady Tigers finished the season with a 14-15 record, which was an improvement from last year’s team that failed to reach 10 wins.

“We were a much better basketball team than we were last year,” Orr said. “We got in double-digits for wins and it’s been good year. We just wish we could keep playing.”

Thursday’s loss was the final game for seniors Kanesia Elliot, Belaine Allen and Katelyn Hill. Orr also said his seniors’ leadership has helped the team improve this year.